Maton Truss Rod Tool

[josh_cain]

Hi Guys.

I play a Maton ebg808cl and i have heaps of trouble with the neck.
its a great guitar and when its set up right it plays amazingly, but the neck is realllllly prone to bowing (im currently taking it to get a truss rod adjustment once a week if not more).
the guy doesnt charge me but its a pain to go into the shop every week to get it fixed.
The guitar is always cased or on a stand when not being played and theres no heating or humidty issue in the house.
basicallly, my question is can you buy the truss rod tool from anywhere? i emailed maton but they didnt reply.

cheers
josh

[gratay]

Once a week?
that sounds pretty extreme...something weird is going on there..
Maton used to sell the tool for $20...
you don't need it though..just get a socket set with the extension attachment..and just reach in the soundhole.
I don't know the size of the hex nut on their truss-rods though?

[Kim]

Once a week is just plain wrong, there is something going on, is the guy at the shop always tightening or loosening the rod? If he is going back and forth then it's probably just humidity. As for the adjuster I also bought one from Maton for about $20.00, you can just buy a extra long philips head screw driver and braze a socket on then end as this is what the Maton tool is anyhow. But I still say that if your needing to adjust the rod once a week, there is a problem somewhere.

Cheers

Kim

[ozziebluesman]

Josh,

Maton changed their truss rod size a few years back to appease the American market. So there are two sizes.

I'm with Kim there is a problem!

Cheers

Alan

[kiwigeo]

Sounds like something wrong with the truss rod.

Whats the neck relief? How much does it change over a week?

[Allen]

What exactly is the problem? String buzz? Too high action? Are you trying to use the truss rod to compensate changes in top geometry due to changes in humidity?

You say the neck is bowing? Having it bow one way with a truss rod adjustment with positive relief, then in the opposite direction into negative relief, just doesn't sound right to me. Seems to be over compensation of a truss rod adjustment, and it takes the neck about a week to settle into it's new adjustment. This adjustment being more than is required, and you are repeating the procedure in the opposite direction with the next over compensated adjustment.

Fill us in with the details, and we should be able to get to the crux of the problem for you. There are heaps of very experienced repair people here that will be able to help you with this.

[Stu]

That sounds like a plausible scenario, Allen.
Overcorrection and settling in past the preferred point.

The only other major problem would be major humidity changes,
maybe brought about by going from a humid area to a well airconditioned room. (like a wall unit. Dries out the air damn quick)

A trussed neck shouldn't be pushing and pulling to such extremes
without the above happening.

Other than these points, I'm hoping it's nothing more sinister.


Cheers, Stu

[Taffy Evans]

Hi There,
I'd be looking at the top like Allen suggested, has a brace in the top let go? Matons are one easy guitar to pop a top or back brace on as they are not checked into the lining.
This will make it easier for top movement due to environment changes.

Changes in the rod adjustment are best done in very small increments to give time for the neck wood to respond. The shop guy could be putting too much tension on the rod which could cause the neck not to react at that time , but to slowly change during the week and end up over compensated....so you go back and.........so on. Just a thought.

Older Matons had a square nut and now its a hex. I made my own special tool back in, should I say it, 1975, and Ivé made a few variations since then, but still use that first one. I put dates on everything I make or buy, a bit scary at times. The first guitar building book I bought was in London when I was an Apprentice back in 19....... oh shit, I can't seem to read it.
Good luck.

[Allen]

....... oh shit, I can't seem to read it.
Good luck.

I'm afraid it's getting to be a lot like that for me too Taffy. I've got a new apprentice, and just last week I had to give him a loan of one of my door skin hammers. He wanted to know where he could get one just like it, but I had to tell him that I'm not sure if they make them anymore as I bought it 12 years before he was born.

[willcall]

Hi all, sorry to revive an old thread but I was wondering if some of thje repair experts on here could tell me how to adjust the truss rod on my Maton. I chose this thread as I have the same model Maton as the original poster. My guitar spends most of it's life on a stand so it gets to enjoy the temperature changes constantly. I'm on the Gold Coast so it isn't super hot or super humid and I don't have air con.

The neck is needing it's 2nd adjustment in 12 months which I hear isn't too bad but the cost of doing so is. It cost me about $100 last time and I figure if it happens twice a year that's a lot of dough I could put into my next guitar.

The strings seem to be pulling the neck forward between the 9th and 12 frets (approx) so the action is now quite high.

Any tips?

Cheers, Will

[Kim]

Pull the end pin jack and insert a loooong phillips screw driver with a bit of tubing brazed on the end that has been squashed into a square to make a socket spanner to fit the adjustment nut which is tucked 'into' the end of the neck and inaccessible from the soundhole...that is the Maton truss rod tool...Back when I bought mine from them they use to sell for about $20 + postage. With all the Asian mini drive tools flooding the market these days I guess you could jockey up something, but the long driver through the endpin is the way Maton intended the TR to be adjusted.

Cheers

Kim

[willcall]

Pull the end pin jack and insert a loooong phillips screw driver with a bit of tubing brazed on the end that has been squashed into a square to make a socket spanner...that is the Maton truss rod tool...Back when I bought mine from them they use to sell for about $20 + postage.

Cheers

Kim

Is it righty tighty and lefty loosey!

[Kim]

Pull the end pin jack and insert a loooong phillips screw driver with a bit of tubing brazed on the end that has been squashed into a square to make a socket spanner...that is the Maton truss rod tool...Back when I bought mine from them they use to sell for about $20 + postage.

Cheers

Kim

Is it righty tighty and lefty loosey!

Yes indeedy Willy

[Matt Bach]

Can I please request a photo or two of your homemade jobs? Sizes?

I emailed maton sales about a week ago, $40 + postage for the tools... would like to try a DIY option first!

I'm also tempted by this style instead of the longer type...
http://www.suttonstrings.com/inventory/ ... _adjuster/

[kiwigeo]

I emailed maton sales about a week ago, $40 + postage for the tools... would like to try a DIY option first!

Thank your lucky stars you dont own a push bike with Campagnolo gear on it. A chain breaker for a Campag 11 speed chain will set you back $250 from the US.

[jeffhigh]

Depends on how old your maton is
The newer ones post 2005 have a 8mm hex nut so the tool is a small 8mm socket
I got the tool from haworth guitars it is basically a 1/4" drive 8mm socket soldered to a 120mmx100 right angle bar
the older ones use the long screwdriver with a square socket on the end like Kim described

[willcall]

Depends on how old your maton is
The newer ones post 2005 have a 8mm hex nut so the tool is a small 8mm socket
I got the tool from haworth guitars it is basically a 1/4" drive 8mm socket soldered to a 120mmx100 right angle bar
the older ones use the long screwdriver with a square socket on the end like Kim described

It's a 2010 make. I have plenty of sockets and socket adaptors so I should be able to find something that fits.

Am I correct in thinking that I should tighten the nut?

And, by how much to start with?

Will

[jeffhigh]

First check your neck relief
Hold down the E sring at 1st fret and 14th, check midway between these points
The distance from the string to the fret top is the relief and should be 8-10 thou. About the thickness of a cheap thin business card.
If the string rests on the frets all along the neck you have no relief.
To increase relief loosen the nut, to decrease it tighten.
Try 1/8 turn then recheck.

[willcall]

To answer my own question I found this site which should help me.

http://www.athensmusician.net/archive/2 ... ody1.shtml


Will

[willcall]

First check your neck relief
Hold down the E sring at 1st fret and 14th, check midway between these points
The distance from the string to the fret top is the relief and should be 8-10 thou. About the thickness of a cheap thin business card.
If the string rests on the frets all along the neck you have no relief.
To increase relief loosen the nut, to decrease it tighten.
Try 1/8 turn then recheck.

Thanks, that will do nicely.

Will

[Kamusur]

$100 for a quarter of a turn, Im in the wrong business.

Steve